What's in a Name
by sovinnai
Summary: Everyone knows what people think when they see the Weasleys or the Malfoys or the Longbottoms walking down the street. But what does it really mean to be a Weasley? What does the Malfoy name really mean?
1. Being a Weasley

For some, the name Weasley means blood traitors, Muggle-lovers, and impure blood. For others, it means red hair and a gaggle of children. Some, seeing the red hair and freckles of the Weasley family, see war heroes. Some people see colleagues, fellow aurors or ministry officials. Some see former classmates, saviors of the wizarding world. Others see famous Quidditch players; they see former Hollyhead Harpies Chaser Ginny Potter or Gryffindor's youngest ever Seeker, Harry Potter.

Children see Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, or, if they go to Hogwarts with the Weasley family children, they see James Potter and Fred Weasley, famous pranksters. They see the beautiful Victoire and Dominique Weasley, or the brilliant bookworm Rose Weasley. They might think of quick-tempered Lily Potter or her ever-present shadow Hugo Weasley. They may see the Gryffindor Beaters, blunt Roxanne Weasley and Lucy Weasley, shy everywhere but on the Quidditch Pitch. They may see the kindly, motherly Molly Weasley. Girls may giggle and gossip over the part-veela Louis Weasley, or black-haired Al Potter. In the end, though, Hogwarts students see all of them as one, their different personalities blending together into that imposing structure, the Weasley clan.

For the Weasleys themselves, however, and those fortunate enough to be adopted into the family by females of the Weasley persuasion, the name Weasley means far, far more.

It means comfort. It means Lily Potter hugging her cousin Hugo when he doesn't make Gryffindor Chaser for the third year in a row and saying he's sure to get it the next year. It means Al, James and Lucy forcing Rose to come get breakfast when she wants dearly just to stay in bed, devastated by failing a quiz. It means all the Weasley males plus Roxanne going out to hex Lucy's ex-boyfriend repeatedly while the females try to assuage the hurt of his cheating on her.

It means protection. It means all the Weasley guys forcing any male who wants to date a Weasley to go through an extensive interview process, and then threatening them with certain and imminent death should they hurt her. It means the Weasley girls doing the same to any girl who wants to date one of the male cousins. It means giving the younger Weasleys a place to stay in the upper years dorms if their roommates get too annoying. It means Louis getting a week's detention to keep Rose out of trouble for staying out after curfew to study in the Restricted Section of the library.

It means family. It means Weasley Christmases, when the Burrow turns into a war zone every year over holiday breaks. It means prank wars between Fred and his younger cousin Al. It means sneaking out to Hogsmeade as a family for an after curfew party at the Hogshead. It means near daily theft of the Marauders Map and the Invisibility Cloak, passing between all the members of the family. It means teasing Molly for her mothering instincts, "just like her grandmother," and teasing Louis for his ever present group of female admirers.

For those lucky few who have been adopted into the family, the name Weasley means even more. It means acceptance, it means having family members all over the place when before there were none. It means Weasley sweaters at Christmas, it means a place to stay over the holidays, and it means always having someone to talk to.

For Scorpius Malfoy, the Weasley name means Roxanne Weasley jinxing a group of Seventh Year Slytherins for bullying him, even though she's the only Weasley who actively dislikes him. When he thanks her, she just responds "I still don't like you. But you've been adopted into the family by Rosie and Grandma Molly, along with my nauseatingly nice cousin Molly, and that makes you a Weasley. I don't let anyone hurt my family except other family members." She then walks way, only to turn back and shout "By the way, expect a prank from Fred and James sometime soon. Just a friendly warning." Scorpius spends the next three weeks jumping at sudden movements before realizing she was just trying to scare him.

For Alice Longbottom, it means Hugo Weasley tutoring her in Potions without her even having to ask for help. It means Rose teaching her how to perform difficult charms, and it means Fred teaching the younger girl how to stand up to others. It means Lily Potter hexing a bunch of guys who laugh at her for tripping on the stairs, and being there for her when she feels like a clumsy, overgrown clod.

For Frank Longbottom, Alice's twin, it means the entire Weasley clan helping him ask Lily Potter out. When he doesn't get the mandatory threatening speech and he asks about it, they all just laugh. "Don't worry, mate. You're already a Weasley in all but name. We trust you well enough, and it would be brilliant if you're actually a member of the family by law," James replies. Scorpius, who has been a part of the Weasley threatening sessions since third year, then adds, "Plus, you've been around for enough of the dreaded Weasley threats that you know them by heart, I'm sure. Consider it said, just in case."

For Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, being a Weasley means having the entire clan join them in their hunt for Crumple Horned Snorlacks, even though they know full well that none of the Weasleys believe in them, except perhaps for Hugo, who, according to his sister Rose, spent way too much time with their Aunt Luna as a young child. Despite their disbelief, all of the Weasleys come along to the Forbidden Forest, and turn the whole thing into a fun outing. Lorcan even thinks he saw a Nargle, though Lysander is convinced he's batty, since everyone knows Nargles live in mistletoe, not in the Forbidden Forest.

For Susan Grey, it means having Head Girl Molly Weasley let her out of a detention, even though Susan just hexed someone in full view. "No one can call a Weasley a Mudblood and get away with it scot-free. In fact, come along to the Head's Common Room after dinner tomorrow, dear, and I'll teach you a few better hexes for the next time." To Susan's protestations, Molly just laughs kindly. "Not a Weasley? Susan, you've been an honorary Weasley since the time you punched that utter prat Avery for insulting Lucy in your first year. Also, you're a redhead, so I'm very glad the Potter curse focused Al's attention on you, rather than some stuck up snot like James' crush." Molly then gives her a motherly pat on the back and walks away, leaving Susan standing in the middle of the hall, spluttering.

For latecomers like Kevin Finnegan, the name Weasley means love. It means being threatened by all the Weasleys, plus Malfoy, the Scamanders, the Longbottoms, and Susan Grey when he finally worked up the courage to ask Roxanne out. It means having to ask more than 20 people before he has permission to ask for her hand in marriage. It means being insulted by his ever blunt (but oh so beautiful) Roxy constantly, and then being laughed at by all his new cousins-in-law. It means having pranks pulled on him just to see what his reaction will be, and then responding with a laugh and a smile. It means feeling that he belongs, when before he never did.

Finally, for Nymphadora and Remus Lupin, twins and the first members of the next generation of Weasleys, it means having 20 uncles and 11 grandparents. It means having 13 cousins by the time they are 8, with more on the way. It means comfort. It means knowing they will lead the Weasley clan back to Hogwarts, to cause more mischief and mayhem. It means protection. It means being destined, though they are too young to realize, that they will be leading the famed Weasley threatening sessions throughout their seven years of Hogwarts. It means having their Aunt Lily teach them the infamous Bat-Bogey Hex, and having their Aunt Rosie and Uncle Scorpy, the aurors, teach them to always have "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" It means family. It means Weasley Christmases, when the Burrow turns to a war zone for a week, and it means sharing the Marauders Map and the Invisibility Cloak with their younger cousins. It means prank wars between Cassie and Augusta and Sirius and Arthur.

Above all else, above all the mayhem, heroism, pranks, studying and teasing, the Weasley name means loyalty. It doesn't matter whether a Weasley bears the name Potter, Longbottom, Finnegan, or even Malfoy. It doesn't matter if they are smart or athletic, popular or nutty. It doesn't matter if they're a boy or a girl, pretty or ugly, humble or arrogant. If they are a Weasley, whether it be by blood or by adoption, they are loyal beyond all measure. In many ways, that's the main prerequisite to being a Weasley. Those who are Weasleys by blood, or raised along with the Weasleys like the Longbottoms or the Scamanders, are raised with loyalty as their first principle. Those who are adopted Weasleys are adopted _because_ they are loyal.

Scorpius Malfoy, Harry Potter, and Susan Grey weren't adopted into the family because they were friends with Weasleys, or because they were smart or athletic, though all of those are true. If that were all that was needed, then Seamus Finnegan or Dean Thomas could be a Weasley. No, true Weasleys are adopted into that exclusive group because they stick with their friends through thick and thin, because they hex people for insulting one of the Weasleys. Harry Potter was adopted because he was willing to fight a basilisk to save a Weasley from death. Susan Grey was adopted because she was willing to punch out a guy two years older and far bigger than her because he had insulted her friend, a Weasley. Scorpius Malfoy was adopted because he would purposely take a detention to keep a Weasley from getting one, because he knew how badly she would react. Their loyalty, more than anything else, convinced the Weasleys that they were Weasleys too.

Loyalty defines the Weasleys and makes them what they are. They may be blood traitors or war heroes; they may be a family that runs on nepotism or one that always looks out for its own. They may be condescending prats or kind protectors. They may be suck-ups or good students. They may be arrogant sods or kids who just like a bit of fun. They may be any number of bad and good things. But above all else, they are loyal. That loyalty may fade, may be overpowered by other things. A Weasley may abandon his friends or his family. But that overarching sense of loyalty will always bring them back to the fold, will always keep them in the Weasley name.

They are comfort and protection. They are Weasley threatening sessions. They are Quidditch matches and prank wars. They are Prefects and trouble makers. They are detentions and they are O.W.L.s. They are writers for the _Daily Prophet_ and they are Quidditch Stars. They are mothers and ministry officials, they are fathers and aurors. They are loyalty. They are family. They are the Weasleys.


	2. Being a Malfoy

The sight of the blond hair and pale skin of a Malfoy brings instantaneous revulsion to most people. Those on the right side of the war see Lucius Malfoy torturing muggleborns. They see Narcissa Malfoy serving You-Know-Who meals at the Malfoy Manor. They see Draco Malfoy letting Death Eaters into Hogwarts and trying to kill the Headmaster. They see Death Eaters and evildoers.

For those who supported Voldemort in the war, the Malfoys are traitors. They are Lucius Malfoy, who immediately returns to the Ministry's fold after Voldemort's first fall from power. They are Narcissa Malfoy, who lies to the Dark Lord and directly causes his eventual and permanent death. They are Draco Malfoy, who fails to kill the hated Dumbledore, and whose life is saved by Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, of all people. They are blood traitors of the worst sort, even worse than the Weasleys.

Most people feel only hatred when they see a Malfoy. What they do not see is what the Malfoy name truly means, inside the confines of the Malfoy home.

The Malfoy name means regrets. It means Lucius Malfoy sitting in his cell in Azkaban, wishing he had chosen differently. He doesn't regret his actions on moral grounds, for he still believes in his lost cause, but because of the pain he caused his wife and son. The Malfoy name means Draco Malfoy wishing he could have had a different Hogwarts experience. It means wishing he could have had the courage to stand up to his father and refuse to accept his beliefs.

The Malfoy name means resolve. It means Narcissa Malfoy deciding to never let Lucius associate with his former colleagues again or take up another cause. It means Draco teaching his son all the things his father never taught him; acceptance, politeness, courage. It means young Scorpius resolving to show everyone that the Malfoys have reformed, being placed in Gryffindor, and befriending the Weasleys.

The Malfoy name means pride. It means Lucius ignoring all the hisses and boos coming at him upon his eventual release from Azkaban. It means Draco Malfoy walking in to his work with his head held high every day, even when people turn around and walk out of his potions store at the first sight of him. It means Scorpius paying no heed to the taunts and bullying that he finds wherever he goes. It means Scorpius refusing the offered help of the Weasleys for his first days at school, too prideful to accept that he needs help from anyone.

The Malfoy name means hiding. It means never letting emotions show, no matter how angry, or happy, or sick they feel. It means Draco Malfoy hiding his true self from everyone except his wife Astoria and his son Scorpius. It means Lucius never letting himself lose his temper at any insults thrown at him, his wife, his son, his daughter-in-law or his grandson. It means Scorpius never joking or getting angry, or having any emotions at all, unless he is in the company of either his parents, or, after his first Weasley Christmas, the Weasleys.

The Malfoy name means effort. It means Draco Malfoy throwing himself into work and supporting his entire family by only the earning he gets from his small potions store. It means Draco and Astoria spending weeks of sleepless nights trying to reclaim Malfoy Manor, the ancestral home of the Malfoys. It means Scorpius working as hard as he can to be the top of his class in every possible subject. It means Scorpius going to Ron Weasley and Harry Potter when he is only a first year and asking for help in becoming an auror like them. It means Scorpius following every instruction they give him to the best of his ability.

The Malfoy name means perseverance. It means Astoria Malfoy making three separate lawsuits to recover Malfoy Manor. It means Draco continuing his work at his small store despite getting no more than a single customer a week. It means Scorpius deciding at the young age of seven that he will become an auror, and at the age of eleven that he will eventually marry Rose Weasley, and it means succeeding at both.

Eventually, the Malfoy name means humility. It means Lucius Malfoy finally bending himself to accept his grandson's friendship with blood traitors and half-bloods, though he never does bring himself to meet them. It means Draco finally asking for the help of a lawyer to regain his ancestral home, even though she is a Mudblood, and a Weasley at that. It means Narcissa eventually agreeing to have the Weasleys over for dinner. It means the Malfoys accepting their subordinate status to the Weasley family, hard as it is for them to admit it.

To latecomers to the Malfoy family, the name means all that, but also some things no one would expect.

To Narcissa Black, the Malfoy name means comfort. It means Lucius holding her while she cries that her sister ran off with a Mudblood. It means Draco trying to say he is fine and assuage her fears, even after being tortured by the Dark Lord. It means Lucius, even from the depths of Azkaban, wishing her Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas. Being a Malfoy means everything to her after both of her sisters are lost to her, one disowned from the family and never reconciled with, and the other a fervent and often insane devotee of the Dark Lord.

To Astoria Greengrass, the Malfoy name means loss. It means watching her sister's classmate being beaten down by the weight on his shoulders. It means watching as the boy she secretly fancies, despite all his flaws, tries to bring himself to kill Dumbledore. It means still watching as Draco tries to rebuild his life from the ashes of his past. It means being forced to stand by while her son gets death threats for just being a Malfoy. But it also means the future. It means her husband building up an eventually successful potions business. It means her son reconciling the Malfoys and the Weasleys after centuries of feuding. It means watching her son and his wife becoming the youngest co-heads of the auror department in years. Finally, it means home. It means the flat that Draco and she lived in while he was still an unsuccessful potions brewer. It means the small house they were eventually able to afford after years of saving. And it means Malfoy Manor, the mansion they are finally able to reclaim for themselves, and where their grandchildren will grow up and live in.

To Rose Weasley, the Malfoy name means pride. It means an eleven year old boy too prideful to admit that he needs help in dealing with bullies. It means Scorpius walking to detention with his head held high when it was her fault he got into detention in the first place. It means her friend's father refusing to meet her at first because he was too ashamed of his past. It means Scorpius walking past insults and taunts without reaction, but acting with a hex and a curse at any insult to her or her family. At the same time, the Malfoy name, contradictorily, also means humility. It means Draco Malfoy asking her forgiveness for the damage he had done in the past to her family, and for the rudeness he had shown her at first. It means Scorpius asking her father and uncle for help in redeeming the Malfoys' reputation. It also means his asking for her help on an essay and giving help to her cousins on difficult spells. It means Scorpius asking her on bended knee for her to marry him every year, and her saying yes. This occurs every year from first year when they don't really understand what marriage means, until their graduation, when he asks her to become his partner as an auror and his wife. She agrees this time with full knowledge of what it means.

To Cassiopeia Malfoy and her younger brother Orion, the Malfoy name means dignity. It means having famous aurors as parents and grandparents. It means being the least emotional of all of their cousins, of which there are dozens. It also means being the smartest of the cousins, and quite possibly the best pranksters as well. It also means hard work. It means working at their Grandpa George, their Grandpa Ron, and their Uncle Fred's joke shop for hours. It means going to their Grandma Audrey's home to learn about Muggles, and their Grandma 'Mione's home to learn about history. For Cassie and Orion, the Malfoy name means, despite it all, that they still sometimes get insults thrown at them by storekeepers at Diagon Ally. It means that sometimes customers walk into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and, after seeing the Malfoys working at the counter, walk right back out.

In the end though, the Malfoy name means redemption. It means second chances; it means the ability to start anew. The fact that all that Cassie and Orion know is that their Grandpa Draco and his father did some bad stuff a long time ago illustrates the extent of the redemption that defines the Malfoys. In the end, the Malfoy name is barely distinguishable from the Weasley name to the young Malfoys and all their cousins. And that, after all the trials and tribulation, the evil and horrors, that the Malfoys have undergone, truly demonstrates the extent of the power of second chances. Some people, still living in the past, may despise the Malfoys for what they once represented. But, to the people who were at the heart of the war, the Malfoys aren't Death Eaters or old bullies at school. They are family.

They are Death Eaters and aurors. They are traitors and loyal friends. They are of the Noble House of Black, and they are of the blood traitor Weasley clan. They are despised, and they are hated. They are hard work. They are perseverance. They are pride. They are second chances. They are the Malfoys.

**Authors Note: I don't like this piece as much as "Being a Weasley." It just was more forced for me. Still, I felt that I had to put this in, because, even if it didn't flow as naturally as describing the Weasleys, it definitely shows my conception of the Malfoy family after the war just as much as the first chapter describes my conception of the Weasley family. The one part that I really loved of this was the idea of Scorpius proposing to Rose when they're both first years. It wouldn't be because of anything stupid like 'love at first sight.' He feels like he belongs with the Weasleys, and would love to become a part of their family officially. And, of course, he likes Rose well enough, even as a first year, to know that he wouldn't mind being married to her, and even would like it. His idea, as an eleven year old, of being married is much different than the reality, of course. Also at the back of his mind, like with everything he does, is probably the idea of redeeming his family name, which marrying a Weasley certainly would do. He isn't cold-blooded enough to want to marry Rose just for that reason, of course.**

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